Rep player Bryce on ball

Article reproduced from the parramatta-advertiser 09/11/2009.
Article By STEVEN DEARE. Picture: JOHN APPLEYARD.

You know a player is special when he wins not just best and fairest in his team, but in the age group above him too.

Such are the achievements of Telopea 16-year-old Bryce Mayne.

The ginger-headed onballer won those awards for his Holroyd-Parramatta under-16 and under-18 sides in a breakthrough season.

Selectors noticed him, too. Mayne played in the Western Sydney Pioneers representative side for the first time.

He learned plenty from a memorable season.

“The pace of the game was quicker than what I was used to but after a few games I got used to it,” he said.

“At rep level you learn it’s not a one man sport and everyone has got a job to do.

“And if you stick to that, you win.”

The St Patricks College, Dundas, student prides himself on thinking a step ahead of the opposition.

“It’s reading the play and anticipating what’s going to happen next,” he said of his strengths.

“Running and trying to get to the ball at the next contest.”

Mayne is not just out there to enjoy himself, either.

Ask him how serious he is about footy in the future, and he will tell you.

“Very serious,” he said.

“I eat, breathe and dream footy.”

His next assignment is to crack the Pioneers under-18s side.

The team will selected next year, and Mayne is already preparing for the tryouts.

In form like this, it’d be a brave man to tip against him.